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A thought by Maria Goff (2017-03-07) from her book, Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want(Kindle Location 382). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Maria is telling here of a fire that destroyed their Lodge. They live in San Diego but she says, “The Lodge is a place we built in Canada, which has become a place of rest for all of us. It isn’t the easiest destination to visit. In fact, it’s pretty difficult to get to. The only way in is by boat or seaplane. There are no roads or power lines or water lines for a hundred miles in the shortest direction and a thousand miles in the longest.” She continues, “Because we know what we had, what we lost, and what we want, we’ll start again. We’ll cut the logs, stack them high, and fill the new Lodge with new memories. We decided there’s not much we’d want to change this next time around. Maybe we’ll put in a couple fire sprinklers, but who knows.…

A thought by Maria Goff (2017-03-07) from her book, Love Lives Here: Finding What You Need in a World Telling You What You Want (Kindle Location 331). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I am so glad that is true, aren’t you? Maria says, “We’ve changed a lot since the night the Lodge burned down. It’s odd how much I still remember about that night. It makes me wonder if God spends much time thinking about who we were and all of the details surrounding the difficulties we’ve experienced in our lives. I know He could remember everything if He wanted to, but I can’t help but wonder if He thinks that the fires we’ve endured don’t matter as much as the future He’s promised us. Certainly, God uses everything in our lives; nothing is wasted. But among His favorite questions for us isn’t where we’ve been and what we’ve been through, but ‘Where do we go from here?’ Like the disappointments we’ve all experienced, what stands out in …

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same. (p.165). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Ray gives some barriers and builders that will help every parent become more effective connecting with their kids and influencing them to become more productive and hope-filled.This is one of the two barriers. He says, “Sure, they’re younger and probably thinner, they think they’re cooler, and Hollywood tells them they’re smarter. There’s a difference, however, between acting sophisticated and being mature.” He goes on, “As sociologist Jean Potuchek said, ‘There are some cultures in which the elderly are revered for their experience and wisdom, but American society values youth and denigrates age. In this culture, the greatest compliment one can pay an older person is to tell them they seem or look younger than they are.’ How dumb is all that?” He then gives an illustr…

A thought by Ray Johnston (2014-05-13) from his book, The Hope Quotient: Measure It. Raise It. You'll Never Be the Same.(p.163). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I’m glad you are this far.Now stay with me.Ray gives some very good stuff for parents. He says, “Parents provide both direction and motivation. Direction-based parenting tends to deliver guilt. Motivation-based parenting tends to deliver hope. As a parent, you have to provide direction, but ineffective parents major in delivering direction. That tends to be guilt-based, without motivation. Effective parents deliver both direction and motivation, which brings hope.” Let’s go on.Ray says, “The single most profound thing ever penned on the subject of parenting is, ‘Children are a gift of the LORD… Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth’ (Psalm 127: 3– 4 NASB). The writer teaches children are like arrows. You do three things with an arrow:…